“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Albert Camus

Saturday, 16 August 2014

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. —John Donne

Another
great piece of work by Hemingway. Incredibly strong and powerful, it will take
you to the greatest play of human emotions and feelings with war on its
background. So take your seat and prepare for the journey to the astonishing
Spanish mountains, first love and war against fascism.

It all
begins with a man, like always in Hemingway’s works. Macho type of a man. He was
given an order to blow up a bridge and he knows he would not make it alive. He
meets a squadron of Spanish partisans – people from different towns and
villages devoted to Republic. And of course there’s a love story in here –
Robert Jordan meets a girl Maria, with whom he lives the fullest 4 days of his
life.

It
always disappoints me that Hemingway didn’t write strong women. Of course there’s
Pilar, but she is really man-like. And Maria’s devotion to Robert was boring. Like
imagine how cool it would become if there were a strong female character. But
Hemingway was Hemingway, who am I to judge. A genius wrote as he wrote and that’s
the end.

My
personal favorite in all his books is a dialogue. His dialogues are always so
life-like as if you actually hear these words from people near you. It gives so
much realism to the Hemingway’s style. His minimalistic writing makes war so
real it would shock you.

It is
claimed to be his best novel yet I liked it least of all. But I recommend it to
you for it is incredible piece of writing.